


City Under Siege

by Namaenai



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:01:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23989294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Namaenai/pseuds/Namaenai
Summary: A young woman returns home to a family in crisis and a city under siege.
Kudos: 1





	City Under Siege

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in 1992 (when I was just a toddler, clearly) as Los Angeles was under a dusk-to-dawn curfew after rioting in response to the acquittal of the LAPD officers who beat Rodney King. I was away at college at the time (I was clearly a genius as a toddler) and drove home for the weekend and was struck by how quiet the city ws. Our current situation reminds me a lot of that time.
> 
> Aside from fixing a few typos that jumped out, I haven't made any edits to what I wrote in 1992. (I OCRd this from a printout, so there may be additional typos I didn't catch.)

An eerie silence hung over the nearly deserted city as a lone hovercar continued down the road. To the driver, the silence felt almost as thick as the smoke that hung in the sky obscuring the early morning sun. She put her foot heavily on the accelerator, kicking up a cloud of dust as the car quickly accelerated.

The raven-haired driver turned off the freeway and onto the main road. The streets were almost deserted, few people daring to venture outdoors. The city had been placed under a dusk-to-dawn curfew, but most people were afraid to leave the presumed safety and comfort of their own homes. Her mind drifted to the reasons for her return to the ravaged city.

***

Blaze sat in her hotel room, sipping a glass of wine and watching the television. The show she was watching was suddenly interrupted by a news flash. A terrorist's bomb had exploded in the city of Old Los Angeles and the city was virtually under siege. She watched the newscast, listening for whatever details she could get. Her thoughts were interrupted by a ringing phone.

"Yeah," she said, picking up the handset.

"Blaze," the trembling voice at the other end of the line said. "Please, come back. It's your brother. He's in trouble."

"Mother, please, calm down. I will try to make it there. But I don't know if I can get through."

She hung up the phone, throwing her few belongings into a duffel bag. She picked up the laser pistol sitting on the table, checked to be sure it was charged, and put it into the bag, zipping it shut. She hurried to the black hovercar parked downstairs, throwing the duffel onto the seat next to her. She took the pistol out of the duffel and shoved it into the compartment, hidden under the dash of the car.

Blaze accelerated rapidly, fishtailing out of the driveway and out into the street. She guided the sleek, black hovercar up onto the highway and accelerated further, watching the hills slip by to her left and the ocean to the right.

***

Blaze looked at the city around her. One bomb went off in the city, but chaos erupted. People took to the streets, looting and vandalizing. Fires started to spring up around town and it was all the meager resources of the city could do to put them out. As a last resort, the city was placed under martial law.

A siren roused Blaze from her thoughts. She looked in her rear-view mirror and saw the flashing lights of a patrol car behind her. She glanced down at her speedometer and swore. She had been going quite a bit over the speed limit.

As the black hovercar came to a stop at the side of the road, two officers in body armor got out of the patrol car, laser rifles drawn. They crouched behind the doors of their car, aiming at the black car.

"Come out slowly," one of the officer's demanded over a loudspeaker.

Blaze slowly opened her door, cautiously getting out of her car, her hands in the air. One of the officers put down his rifle, drawing his pistol instead. He slowly approached the raven-haired driver.

"Where are you going in such a hurry, " he demanded, looking at her license.

"I'm on my way home. To Old Los Angeles"

"Are you aware that it is a veritable war zone out there " the officer asked her, less out of concern than as an almost dare.

"I'm aware of it."

"Well, be careful out there " he said, handing back her license along with a ticket. "It's no place for a woman to be right now.”

It was all Blaze could do not to roll her eyes at the officer. She got back into her car and waited for the patrol car to drive off before starting her engine. She hit the accelerator hard, fishtailing out into the street.

"Home," she thought. "Do I even have a home anymore? How long ago was it since I sat out on the lawn, playing with my dog?" Her mind drifted back to a simpler time, many years ago. A younger Blaze ran around in the lawn with a young boy, her brother, chasing after a large, furry dog.

She shook her head, clearing away the memory. Blaze swerved around a corner and was shocked at what she saw. Where once majestic buildings had stood, now there were burned out husks. Buildings that weren't burned to the ground stood with windows broken and their contents removed.

A gun shot sounded and she heard the ring of the bullet hitting the hood of her reinforced car. “Dammit," she growled, pulling her laser pistol out of its hidden holster.

She stopped her car, got out, and cautiously crouched behind her door. She looked towards where the shot had come from and saw a figure running off. Blaze fired off three quick shots, hitting the figure in the leg, causing him to fall to the ground. Slowly she walked to him.

“I wouldn’t do that, " she warned as the man reached towards his fallen gun. To emphasize her point, she fired at the gun, his fallen gun, the blast knocking it further away. “Now, would you like to explain why you were firing at my car'" she said, less a question than a demand.

“Go to hell " the man spat out, turning around to look at her. His eyes went wide and then fell to the ground, unable to look at her.

“Jimmy? What has become of you?” She barely recognized her younger brother.

"What has become of me? This city is a war zone Someone had to do something.”

"Firing at innocent cars is doing something?”

"We don't want anyone coming in t the neighborhood. No one. How can we know if anyone is friendly or not?"

"Mother is worried about you, Jimmy. That's why I am here. She called me in tears, asking me to help. You are breaking her heart, Jimmy.”

"She doesn't understand,” he said sadly. “I don’t want to be a victim. The only way to avoid that is to take action. That's what we are doing.”

“Who is this ‘we’ you keep talking about?"

"The Red Devils.”

"That gang'" she asked horrified. "What are you doing with them?”

"Trying to defend my home."

"Jimmy, you are just going to get yourself killed."

“Leave me alone Blaze. Go sit with mother but I am going to do things my way.”

"Jimmy, please don't do this."

He ignored her and began to walk off. Suddenly, the ground around them erupted as a hail of bullets hit the ground. Blaze dove to the ground, coming up on her knees with her gun drawn.

"Jimmy," she cried out, looking over to him. But she saw she was too late. Jimmy lay there, unmoving. "No," she screamed as more bullets went whizzing by her. She cried out as a bullet hit her in the left shoulder.

Blaze turned towards the direction the bullets were coming from, and saw a man in a red cap, identifying him as a Red Devil, firing from a nearby rooftop. Blaze took aim, firing of a quick blast from her laser pistol. The man fell thirty feet to the ground, clutching his face. He landed with a thud and did not move.

Jimmy groaned, and Blaze went to him. "He was one of us. He betrayed me, " he said weakly. Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, and Blaze could see he had been hit several times in the back.

"Shhhh," she said cradling his head in her lap. "Don't try to talk Jimmy."

"I'm gonna die Blaze." He coughed, blood and saliva dripped from his mouth.

"Don't talk like that Jimmy," she said, her eyes filled with tears. "You'll be fine. Just hold on."

"I don't feel anything Blaze. I can't feel my arms or legs." He looked up and saw the tears in his sister's eyes as she brushed his hair out of his face. "Blaze, promise me one thing," he said weakly.

"Anything Jimmy."

"Tell mother I am sorry. I only did it for her. Tell her," he broke off, choking. "Tell her I love her," he said, closing his eyes for the last time.

"No," Blaze screamed out to the world. She held her brother tightly, her tears falling onto his face.

When she was finally able to quell her tears, Blaze went to her hover car, getting a blanket out of the trunk. She wrapped her brother's still form in it and laid his body across the back seat.

Blaze took out her first aid kit, wrapping a bandage around her injured shoulder. Fortunately, the bullet had just grazed her. As she got into the driver’s seat, she replaced her pistol in its hidden holster. She then started the engine and slowly drove the last block to her mother's house.

The house had been relatively undamaged. The front of it was scorched by fire and windows that had been shot out were boarded up. Her mother saw the car and ran out to greet her, the older woman’s expression turning to one of horror as Blaze lifted the still form of her brother, wrapped in the now blood-soaked blanket.

"My baby" her mother cried out in anguish, rushing to her.

Blaze carried her brother’s body into the house, lying him on the couch. She called the authorities as her mother sat beside her youngest child, crying hysterically as she held his still form.

"Mother, there is nothing more we can do for him. His last thoughts were of you," she said sadly. "He asked me to tell you he was sorry. He loved you, Mother."

“This is all your fault," her mother screamed accusingly. "If you had been here all along, this wouldn't have happened. Get out! Just, get out of my life."

Blaze couldn't even begin to tell her how hurt she was. She did blame herself in part for Jimmy's death. If only she had been there to stop him when he got involved with the Red Devils. She gave her mother and brother one last look, then turned and walked out the door.

She got in her car, driving off as a police car and ambulance came up the street, sirens wailing. She drove on, passing the charred remains of the once great city.

Suddenly, something caught her eye. She slammed on her brakes, the car spinning in a complete circle before -finally coming to a stop. Blaze jumped out of the car and ran up to a partially burned old house, bending down to look at something on the walkway.

On one of the burned bushes, a single white rose bloomed, struggling to stay alive. A white-haired lady came out of the house, watching Blaze. Blaze felt her stare and looked up. The lady smiled at her, looking proudly at her single flower that refused to die. Somehow, Blaze felt that the lady was much like the flower, refusing to die though everything else around her did.

As Blaze stood up to walk away, a single ray of the morning sun broke through the clouds of smoke. Blaze looked over and saw the lady and her flower bathed in the light of the sun. A light rain began to fall being absorbed quickly by the parched earth.

"Maybe there is hope for us after all," Blaze thought to herself as she drove off down the street.

**Author's Note:**

> For more about the LA Riots, check out this article - https://www.history.com/topics/1990s/the-los-angeles-riots


End file.
